PABLO PICASSO | Femme et clown

Giorgio Falk, Milan
Private Collection (by descent from the above to the present owner)
Sale: Christie's, London, 8th February 2012, lot 243
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso, Œuvres de 1953 à 1955, Paris, 1965, vol. XVI, no. 147, illustrated p. 49

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down and adhered to the mount along the verso of all four edges with restorer's tape. The edges of the sheet are visible. There is some minor discolouration to the extreme left edge and remnants of adhesive in places to the verso, which is visible to the recto at the centre of the left edge only. This work is in overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In Femme et clown Picasso demonstrates his exquisite mastery of draughtsmanship. The present work is part of the artist’s reputed series of drawings, which Picasso executed during the winter of 1953-54. At the age of 72, Picasso worked relentlessly to capture his vivid imagination and the result was a series of superb works on paper that confirm Picasso’s reputation as one of the most influential and prolific artists of the 20th century. Speaking of this period of creative abundance Marie-Laurencin Bernadac observed: 'Between 18th November 1953 and 3rd February 1954, Picasso shut himself away in a deserted villa and produced at a dizzying pace 180 drawings which have as their central theme the painter and his model. Some of them additionally summon up and incorporate themes from the past: the circus, clowns, acrobats and monkeys. Others anticipate the future: masks, old age, eroticism, jokes at the expense of the painter's trade, the comedy of the art milieu (Marie-Laurencin Bernadac, Late Picasso, Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings and Prints 1953-1972, London, 1988, p. 51). Femme et clown playfully exemplifies the artist’s treatment of the erotic and bizarre. In the later years of his life Picasso reintroduces the clown of his youth alongside a figure resembling, and embracing the role, of the eternal feminine. His drawings are an endless reimagining of scenarios between the painter and his model. Her expression is one of amusement for whilst she indulges the artist she cannot take him seriously.

The clown depicted in Femme et clown evokes Picasso’s early works - in particular the saltimbanques of his Rose period - which were frequented with the circus and clowns, signalling a move towards a thematically and stylistically more optimistic period and a departure from the more sombre hues of his earlier Blue Period.